


lone wolf

by kalypsobean



Category: Dark Visions - L. J. Smith
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 18:52:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17167439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypsobean/pseuds/kalypsobean





	lone wolf

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eirenical (chibi1723)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi1723/gifts).



_Well, this is a special kind of hell, isn't it,_ he thinks, almost maniacally. Then he thinks he shouldn't have thought that, not yet, and throws his walls up. They're good, strong walls. He's had practice with those; he's always projecting something, just in case. But, they're still not enough.

He can feel Kessler right there, even though stupid Kessler is downstairs with the stupid witch girl who can make him do shit he wouldn't normally do and that's why he's in this mess in the first place. It's really annoying. He adds spikes to his walls, because he can.

 

_It's still not enough_ , though at least he can think now. It takes more energy than he'd like to keep to himself, which is backward as, but it's Kessler's fault. The last thing in the world he ever wanted to know is what Kessler's energy felt like, and here it is, pushing at his walls and being all gently concerned and unwelcome. It's gold and rainbow and he imagines a unicorn shit it out because it makes him feel better. The only peace he gets is a few minutes when Kessler falls asleep. Even then, he's still right next door.

 

He wakes up, and Kessler is still there, damnit.

Of course Kessler would be the one person that doesn't break and start screaming and die because of him. Golden boy Kessler with his ability to be perfect and fix everything.

He wishes Kessler would hurry up and fix this and get the fuck out of his head. Instead, because this gets better and better, he only fades a bit. 

Well, at least Kessler doesn't want to be here either. But the others have no sense of privacy and just keep talking, and Kessler-the-saint joins right in. Seriously, _fuck this shit_.

 

Distance doesn't help. The only thing left to do is to try to get out, somehow get so far away that their voices can't reach him, and when he tries the witch follows him and defeats the point. It's as if she doesn't get this is all her fault, and of course she's stuck on Kessler, which makes it ten times worse.

Then Zetes wires him up to that crystal and for a moment, he thinks it's going to be okay. The first wave of power hits him hard enough that he thinks the web will break. It doesn't, of course, because he can hear Kessler, and then he feels like he's being electrocuted and it's all he can do to stop it flooding him and reaching the others because there's a way out, all he has to do is get far enough away that he can't hear them and he can go somewhere and be normal without his stupid energy sucking power, and that won't happen if anyone dies because of this and the web snaps. 

 

The crystal leaves him raw and open and Kessler keeps trying to help, because that's just perfect. A special kind of hell, indeed.

 

Kessler's energy isn't enough to sustain him. With it he feels restless and itchy, and he feels sick, like the nausea after eating bad chicken except in his brain. He can't wait to get it out of him, and then it's gone and he's jittery and needy and hungry, and it's new and he's on the edge of being unable to control anything. The thought of preventing it happening again, stopping Kessler looking at him with that stupid distant concerned look, drives him as he goes hunting. He just has to deal long enough to get away, get somewhere safe. 

 

Kessler would die out here without him, and the witch girl, too. Kessler has the nerve to get all righteous and do-gooder, and the witch girl just goes right along with it, because of course. He gets them off the street, that's the best he can do. He slips away and she insists on following him. Again. He could throttle her, drain her, and run. 

He thinks about it, he really does, and then he has to worry about psychic ghost things and it's just not worth the hassle.

As soon as they're safe, he's out. For real this time.


End file.
